3 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Prestwick Airport chosen to host RAF refuelling fleet
Prestwick will be the fleet's short-term home for a number of months as resurfacing works are carried out at RAF Brize Norton in England.
A contract valued at £1.2 million is set to be awarded to the airport as part of Project MACE, which is designed to keep the UK's refuelling operations going during the resurfacing.
Upgrades at the airport will take place as part of the contract, including the installation of new concrete jacking pads.
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The Ministry of Defence said: 'Air Commercial, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), intends to award a contract to Glasgow Prestwick Airport (GPA) for the provision of services.
"The estimated value of the contract is £750,000 with a proposed term of 36 weeks. This direct award is related to a larger programme of work, referred to as MACE.
'Only one airport, Glasgow Prestwick Airport, can meet all of the MoD's technical requirements. GPA is the only airport that could take seven Voyager aircraft.
"All other airfields lack the necessary secure communications… others would require full runway reconstruction, again at significant time of several years.'
The Ministry of Defence also confirmed that without Prestwick Airport, 'the Voyager fleet will be unavailable to support the Fast Jet fleet which critically defends UK airspace'.
(Image: Peter Byrne)
Work at Prestwick Airport is expected to begin next month and will last for 11 months, in preparation for the arrival of the Voyager fleet next summer.
The announcement comes amidst hopes that Prestwick could also be the chosen venue for the next generation of Red Arrows aircraft to be built.
Central Ayrshire MP Alan Gemmell has been working with British manufacturing scale-up Aeralis for months to convince them to choose Prestwick as their preferred site.
The company is developing a British-designed, built and assembled replacement for the Red Arrows training jet.
The jets would be built by AERTEAM - a new alliance of seven UK aerospace companies brought together by Aeralis to build the nation's next-generation fast jet trainer.
Alan Gemmell MP (Image: Contributed) In the House of Commons recently, Mr Gemmell said: "I've spent some months convincing British scale-up Aeralis to choose Prestwick as their location for a proposed solution to the Hawk replacement, creating 4,000 jobs across the UK and the first British jet built in 50 years."
Aeralis has confirmed that Prestwick remains on the shortlist, and that an announcement is expected "very soon".
A spokesperson said: "Our aircraft modules will be built at AERTEAM sites across the UK and transported to a final assembly location (FAL) where they will come together as a complete aircraft ready for delivery to customers.
"The final location for the UK FAL has yet to be announced. A shortlist, including Prestwick in Ayrshire, has been developed and Aeralis hopes to announce its selection very shortly."
